Solar A/C without battery?

[ExPatInChiangMai]

I live in rural Chiang Mai, 4 bedrooms with mini-split a/c units.  House is solely on grid.  I’m ok with the electric expense.  Only run the bedroom a/c at night. 
 

My desire is to add some kind of solar a/c unit for living room to run only during the day.  It is about 7x6m with 3m ceiling. I’m figuring about 18,000 or 24,000 btu unit. 
 

Are there units which would run off of solar only (not need the extra expense of batteries)?  Any advice on unit and number and size of solar panels?

 

I’m not looking to tackle major power modification, just gain a little comfort during these hot days with minimal expense. 
 

 

[Crossy]

There are certainly solar power / solar assist A/Cs about, but they are not cheap and not very available here.

 

Your best bet would be to install a grid-tie solar inverter which would offset daytime usage whether A/C or not.

 

If you have an old type spinning-disc meter it would go backwards if you made excess power (not permitted of course)

 

A 24kBTU unit will suck about 800W on average when down to temperature so adding a 1kW grid-tie solar inverter and 3 x 340W panels would get you in the right ball-park and not break the bank.

 

Maybe go a bit larger and offset all your daytime consumption.

 

Personally, I'd go for a mid-range grid-tie inverter of about 3kW (have a look at Sofar units) starting with 5 or 6 x 340W panels and see if the "free" energy bug bites.

 

Are you going to DIY or use an installer??

[ExPatInChiangMai]

What you suggest is intriguing but it definitely starts me down the slippery slope of my understanding/capabilities. 🤪

 

So, the inverter would somehow tie into the main electrical circuit?  So, if I’m not using the a/c on a sunny day, the solar panels would provide power to other household devices?

 

That would be cool (555).  But I would need pro’s to help me do that. 

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, ExPatInChiangMai said:

What you suggest is intriguing but it definitely starts me down the slippery slope of my understanding/capabilities. 🤪

 

So, the inverter would somehow tie into the main electrical circuit?  So, if I’m not using the a/c on a sunny day, the solar panels would provide power to other household devices?

 

That would be cool (555).  But I would need pro’s to help me do that. 

 

At the sort of power levels we are talking about you just connect the inverter as if it was a regular appliance, you could even (temporarily) put a plug on it and plug it in to an outlet. Purely for testing of course

 

Important Note: A domestic grid-tie inverter will not output anything unless it is connected to a live grid (island-protection) so even if you put a plug on it there's no danger of electric shock, unlike a generator which will happily kill you!